


The Trials and Tribulations of Amatori Chika

by miss_liding



Category: World Trigger
Genre: F/M, i Love explosions, probably more gen than het tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9085750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_liding/pseuds/miss_liding
Summary: It takes gratuitous explosions and giant snowballs, amongst other things, for Ema Yuzuru to learn this: sometimes what he wants for people is not necessarily what people want for themselves.(written for World Trigger Secret Santa 2016)





	

 

 

Perched atop a shed, Ema Yuzuru exhaled slowly, calming his mind and preparing his body for action. His breath puffed out in small clouds, hanging in the air as he took stock of the situation. Across the grounds, he could hear Kuuga in a fierce skirmish against Nasu, and the occasional assists from Amatori. With his own target so close, however, he could not afford to get distracted. Crouching in the snow, he readied his attack.

Something slammed into his head, tipping him face first into the roof. His vision turned white; his head spun. Then he shook his head, shaking the load of snow off.

"Got you!" shrieked Natsume, retreating at high tempo through the snow. "Hiura-senpai, watch out!"

Hiura yelled her thanks and ran. Yuzuru still lobbed some snowballs after her, but only managed to clip her shoulder. If he'd been using a rifle it would've been an easy shot, he noted with some dissatisfaction. It was too bad that Hikari had programmed the stage with trigger restrictions, never mind the small, inconvenient detail that his guns couldn't shoot snowballs in the first place.

It was only going to be a matter of time before Natsume and Hiura returned to gang up on him, so he jumped off the roof and started sprinting the short distance to Amatori and Kuuga.

Kuuga was doing surprisingly well for his first snowball fight, so much so that Yuzuru wondered if he was just having them on when the topic was brought up the other day. For that matter, Nasu was doing just as well, taking full advantage of Kuuga's involuntary attempts at summoning grasshopper. Kuuga probably could've beaten them all, and one-handed to boot, if he had grasshopper. As it was, he was still a lot more nimble than Yuzuru, slogging his way through snow drifts up to his knees. Amatori was right there--

A tell-tale crunch sounded behind him, his only warning. An attempt at looking behind him was quickly and mercilessly foiled by the snow and for the second time in as many minutes, he fell solidly into a snowdrift just as two snowballs hurtled past where his head had just been.

He looked up just in time to see them, with ironic, perfect accuracy, nail Nasu in the back.

"Oops," said Hiura and Natsume, together.

Nasu disengaged from her skirmish with Kuuga and turned to them, snowballs nestled in the crook of her arm like round, icy children. "How could you betray," she hurled a snowball at them, "me," _hurl_ , "like this!"

The girls shrieked and fled as Nasu dove after them with deadly intent. Snow and gleeful screams suffused the air.

Yuzuru struggled back to his feet, hurriedly forming more ammunition. The three girls showed no signs of letting up on each other, but who knew when that would stop.

"Ema, over here!" Kuuga called from behind him. Naturally, he turned; saw white, and then regretted in quick succession.

"What was that for," he sputtered, blinking powdery death out of his eyelashes.

Kuuga shrugged, the perfect picture of innocence-- at least, until he bent down to scoop another load of snow. His hands had been covered over with scorpion, shaped to look so much so like two giant icecream scoops.

Yuzuru took this opportunity to pelt Kuuga, whose evasive manoeuvre was slowed by the mega-snowball in his hands. Kuuga's head was beginning to look faintly reminiscent of a lumpy snowball, too, which felt very satisfying.

Kuuga hurled the giant snowball at him. He dodged that, but not the giant wave of snow Yuuma kicked up at him. As Yuzuru shook that off, Kuuga pounced. Yuzuru reflexively summoned shield. Or tried to.

"Attacks won't work on trion here, _and_ there's no shields!" Hikari had crowed over the intercom when she transferred them into the room. "Today we fight snowball-to-snowball like true warriors!" As snowmelt dribbled under the collar of his uniform, Yuzuru was beginning to feel a little bit of hostility towards her. Mid-range combat was the worst.

He jumped onto a roof in an attempt to retreat. Kuuga followed him doggedly, and the height gave him an opening to hurl a couple more snowballs that burst in a gratifying manner all over Kuuga's teal uniform.

Yuzuru was set to continue his counterattack when more teal movement below caught his eye. Amatori, previously on the fringe of the Nasu-Hiura-Natsume battle, was about to be dragged in, kicking and screaming (possibly literally, as well as metaphorically) by Natsume, advancing menacingly from a nearby alleyway. His heart started pounding in his ears.

Without hesitation he threw himself off the roof, landing in a puff of snow between Natsume and Amatori and ignoring a put-off "hey!" from Kuuga.

Both girls jumped and skidded back a few steps.

"I've got your back, Amatori!" he yelled, keeping his eyes on Natsume.

Natsume shot him an incredulous look. "Chikako doesn't--"

"It's okay, really," said Amatori, very levelly.

Yuzuru glanced over his shoulder at her. It didn't make it any clearer who she was addressing.

Then Nasu chose that moment to slam the area with dozens of bullets. Newly disturbed snow began to fall in flurries, masking Yuzuru's vision and distracting him. By the time Nasu let up and he saw Amatori again, unimpeded, it seemed that nothing had ever been wrong in the first place.

 

 

 

Before their simulated snowball fight had begun, Yuzuru had told Hikari to keep an eye on the time despite the feeling that he was saying something terribly counterintuitive. To her credit, she did eventually kick them out of the simulation room like the responsible operator she claimed to be. 

"It doesn't matter," she said as they left for their squad room, and running ten minutes late to boot. "You boys can't do anything without me anyway."

Considering that the rest of Kageura Unit had secretly agreed to always delay their meetings by ten minutes, she wasn't wrong.

"Also," drawled Hikari, apropos of nothing, "If you stare just a little harder Amatori-chan _might_ be able to tell how you feel."

Yuzuru started guiltily, thoughts drifting from the snowball fight. "It's not like I'm trying to be subtle."

"I seeee," Hikari said, unusually thoughtful and concise.

Yuzuru took the chance to redirect her attention from his sad, dead love life. "Um, you did sign me up for mixed-squad patrols, right?"

"Of course! I think you might even be on the same shifts as me." She slanted a look sideways. "You haven't seen the list?"

Yuzuru shook his head. "Doesn't matter much. Besides, I figure you'd request to switch people around if they put me with someone unsuitable."

"I would, would I?" said Hikari, in her hatching-a-nefarious-plan voice.

"I'll treat you at Kage's next time," offered Yuzuru in an attempt to stave it off. "It's been a while."

As they stopped at the threshold of the team room, Hikari seized his hand and shook vigorously. "Done and done. You can thank me later."

"Thank you for what?"

Hikari winked and went inside, greeting a growly Kageura with her usual unquenchable cheer. Yuzuru sighed and followed her in. He could only hope her plans wouldn't cause any lasting property damage.

 

* * *

 

Being a generally busy young man left no room for confusion, however, and by the time he reported to his squad room for the mixed-squad patrol the next morning, the topic had completely fled his mind. 

Hikari, to his utter lack of surprise, hadn't arrived yet, and it seemed none of his other temporary squad-mates had arrived either. It didn't take long for the first person to arrive-- as he was sweeping miscellaneous squad detritus off the main battle table, there was a knock on the door. He looked up.

Amatori smiled at him. "Hello, Yuzuru-kun."

Suddenly he felt like he wanted to die, in the best way possible. He stood up a little straighter. "A-Amatori-san, good morning. Are you here for the mixed-squad patrol?" 

"Yes, the change was a little last minute but I'm looking forwards to working with everyone today."

"That's the attitude I like to hear!" said Hikari, having just arrived. Walking beside her was Nasu who, Yuzuru guessed, was the last member of their mixed squad.

He chanced another glance at Amatori standing next to him. Rank battles had only ever brought their squads up against each other and they'd never cooperated in any skirmishes. So many possibilities, so few shifts.

Nasu looked around at the room. "Good morning, everyone. Let's get to work."

Hikari sat herself down in the nearest computer chair and propelled herself to her workstation. "Right. As the oldest, Nasu-san will be the defacto captain of the temporary unit, unless anyone has objections?"

"None at all," said Amatori.

"…" said Yuzuru, caught up in his daydreaming.

"Yuzuru?" said Hikari, all too knowingly. Amatori, too, was looking at him quizzically and he flushed.

"Yes- I mean, no, no objections."

"I hope you're more alert while on duty," said Nasu.

 

They were barely ten minutes into their shift when the sirens started to blare. 

"We've got multiple trion signatures," said Hikari. "Two bamsters, three marmods!"

"Roger," said Nasu, bullets swirling into formation around her. "Amatori, switch to Ibis. Can you take the bamsters on your own until I finish the marmods?"

"Yes!" said Amatori, and darted down a side street. Yuzuru watched her go until he couldn't see even the slightest flick of her bagworm.

"I'll show you the best routes," Hikari interjected. "Also, Shinoda-san is sending back-up."

"Yuzuru, stay on Egret, you're on cover fire for the both of us," finished Nasu. "Make sure they don't lock onto your positions!"

"Roger," said the snipers in unison.

Hikari had flagged the best sniping spots in Yuzuru's vision with bright red dots and he made his way towards the closest, keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Perched on a balcony overlooking the marmods, Nasu stretched out a hand. "Viper!" Bullets flashed forwards. Trion smoke wafted skywards. The marmods were one down before they'd even realised they were under attack. As soon as they did, the remaining pair charged Nasu.

As she readied herself to meet them, a blast from Ibis split the sky  and completely obliterated the rear end of one of the Bamsters. It went down in a clatter of rubble, taking a house with it.

"Yes!" cheered Hikari.

The other bamster swung its head round and aimed it at Amatori's sniping position. Too slow; Yuzuru had already pulled the trigger. His shot went a little wide, hitting its jaw instead. Still good enough to buy time for Amatori to get away.

The other sniping positions continued to pulse red in his vision, and he chose one that would allow him to assist Nasu. Both remaining marmods were heavily damaged and Nasu herself was leaking trion from a few shallow cuts. Yuzuru aimed and fired as she took a few steps back to regroup.

Two down, one to go, Yuzuru thought as he ran to his next sniping spot. A shockwave from a blast from the remaining bamster told him he was being noticed and sent him flying a few metres further than he intended, but he hung grimly onto his gun, rolled over, and aimed.

His and Amatori's shots hit it at the same time, shattering the yellow eye with a loud explosion, shortly followed by a smaller one as Nasu rained down a cyclone of bullets onto the last marmod.

"Show-off," said Yuzuru with reluctant admiration.

"Thanks. Good work everyone!"

"It doesn't look like anything else is coming," reported Hikari, "and Shinoda-san is still sending out another squad, just in case."

"Then let's rendezvous. Where is everyone?"

Yuzuru's shortest route to the meeting point took him up to the two bamster corpses, crossing paths with Amatori on the way. As he approached, she waved and pointed to something on the ground. Unlike the first bamster she had shot, she seemed none the worse for wear. The giant hole her ibis had punched through it was still gently smoking.

Though it was lying in pieces akin to rubble, there was something off-putting about it that he couldn't quite place. Later, he would recall that the eye was still in one whole piece, gleaming with hidden menace.

The next few seconds happened in a series of slow flashes.

The trion monster, its head moving once again to point its eye straight at Amatori-- a straight shot, close quarters, lined up perfectly with the street.

Nasu yelling over the comms, too far away for her bullets to reach.

Amatori crouched in the street, eyes wide, stance set, swinging her gun back onto her shoulder, completely totally exposed--

"Amatori!" he screamed, and dove across the street. Their collision knocked the gun from her hands, sending it skidding across the street.

The bamster's blast tore into his shoulder and side- a trion leakage bailout for sure. At least Amatori was safe, right?

He scrambled off her and they both slowly rolled into sitting positions. Another explosion sounded behind them as Nasu made short and thorough work of the bamster.

"Are you okay?" said Yuzuru, looking Amatori up and down. She was silent, but the tremor in her hands tore at his heart. "That was careless of me, I should've double-checked, I won't let that happen again--"

"Please stop," said Amatori, her voice a tiny, small thread. Her hands trembled minutely again, and not, Yuzuru realised as his stomach dropped, from fear.

She looked him in the eyes. He'd never seen Amatori so frustrated before. Disappointment cut deep.

"Everyone is so strong, and I'm indebted to everyone for their protection," she said, "but I want-- I thought, at Border, I could learn to protect as well."

Yuzuru opened and closed his mouth, struck with shame. Still no words came to mind. It didn't matter anyway as she stood and dusted her knees off.

 _Trion loss has reached its limit,_ said a mechanical voice in his ear. _Bail out activating in 3, 2, 1…_ The last he saw was her small figure heading back towards Nasu, stepping unhesitatingly through the corpses of the trion soldiers.

 

* * *

  

Overnight he almost managed to forget the incident, but when he arrived at the joint snipers' practise the next day dread filled his lungs. He did his best to make it look like he was absolutely not looking for anyone at all, though it was evident his efforts were wasted when Natsume came up behind him and said "Chikako's not coming today."

Relief was immediate, followed by sharp pangs of guilt. "Oh. That's unusual."

Natsume squinted, narrowing in on potential drama with an acuity that would've made Touma proud. "Did something happen on your mixed shift yesterday?"

Yuzuru shook his head. Natsume looked unconvinced but directed her attention away as the practice started. It didn't seem to be anything important, or so he tried to convince himself. It was getting more and more difficult as time went on.

 _Was she really upset?_ _Aim, fire._ _Stupid question, Yuzuru._ _Aim, fire._  He recalled the set of her shoulders, achingly familiar, and his hands wavered.

The relentless determination did remind him of Hatohara. _Aim._ Amongst many other things. _Fire._   _Aim._ Though if it had been Hatohara, she would've given him a scolding--

Oh.

Oh.

Useless, ineffectual, incompetent- he hadn't ever wanted those feelings for Hatohara, Amatori, anyone.

_Fire._

Yuzuru was almost too busy calling himself ten different types of idiot to notice Touma leaning into his booth. "Wow, Yuzuru. Something on your mind?" 

He looked at Touma, who was inspecting Yuzuru's target sheet. Somehow he'd placed all his shots in the centre, just touching, to create a giant dark hole.

 

 

On the way back to his squad, he passed by Tamakoma-2's room and almost, almost stopped. He kept going. Had to, with another stop to make, if he were to bribe Hikari for her research skills. 

Only when he came back to knock on the door a while later did it occur to him that it might not be occupied, but before he could spiral too far down into doubt it opened.

Amatori looked surprised to see him hovering and miracle of miracles, she still allowed him in. For once in his life he was lucky; no one else appeared to be around to watch his terrible, fumbling attempt at reconciliation.

"Amatori," he began, resisting the urge to wipe his palms on his trousers. "I want to apologize for yesterday."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Not by any of Border's official rules, no. But I shouldn't have interfered."

Amatori was silent. Yuzuru gamely forged on. "You're a really good sniper, and I should know to trust your judgement, not smother you. And, um. I think Hatohara would've been a great mentor for you, but she's…not here."

_Great wording, Yuzu. So eloquent._

Yuzuru became faintly aware that he was babbling. "In case you were wondering though, I got copies of all of her training regimens, I thought they might be useful, if you wanted it. And if something doesn't make sense-- if you decide to use them, I can help, just let me know." He closed his mouth abruptly and held a USB out to Amatori, staring at the floor. If fortune was really on his side, it would open up and swallow him whole, ugly neck-blush and all.

He felt Amatori take the USB, and with it, a giant weight off his shoulders.

"Thank you for thinking of me," she said. Yuzuru dared to look up. Her expression was inscrutable as she stared at the USB for possibly the longest moment in Yuzuru's life.

Yuzuru began to edge towards the door. Obtaining a fake identity and fleeing the country was sounding increasingly appealing.

"If you're not busy, then is now okay?" Amatori finally said, stopping Yuzuru in his tracks.

Yuzuru blinked stupidly.

"I just thought, it's faster to learn together."

He could only nod. Thank you, he tried to say, and failed, the knot in his chest not having loosened quite enough. Then Amatori opened the door for him. The opportunity was gone, and he wasn't brave enough to chase after it.

He wasn't brave enough to carry out a lot of things he wanted to do, really. But they had time, and if not, they'd fight for it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I tried my best to do Chika's protection issues thing some justice but a good interpretation probably requires more textual reading & analysis than i did before writing this, oops.  
> also I have never once fought a snowball in my entire life so apologies for any inaccuracies there.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please drop a comment/kudos if you feel so inclined.


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